Guardians of ancient common land will not deepen ditches and raise banks to protect it, after travellers drove across them on to the delicate grassland habitat and left rubbish strewn all over it.

The mess the travellers left behind after camping on Selsley Common near Stroud was cleared up by Stroud District Council after it failed to evict them on time but it has told village leaders it will not refresh the ditches and bunds (banks) alongside the B4066, which stop most four-wheeled traffic, because it was a one-off incident.

Read More

“We had a meeting with Stroud District Council and they said the travellers were polite, and they may well have been, but they made a terrible mess,” said King’s Stanley Parish Council member Symon Parsley.

“We wanted to stop it in the first place – they decided it’s too much money and it would be easier to evict them.

“They are just hoping they won’t come back."

The travellers moved on to Selsley Common

The ditches have become shallower and the bunds smaller over the years.

“You can drive straight on to the common," said Mr Parsley. There used to be ditches and banks.

“If they had parked in the car park and not left a mess behind, it would not have caused anywhere near the problem it did.

“The council cleaned up but there were still tyre marks over the middle of the common – there are nesting skylarks and it’s a Site of Special Scientific Interest.”

Read More

The encampment was spotted on Selsley Common near Stroud on Friday, June 2 and by 10am the district Council and police had served them with a notice to leave. The travellers told officials they will be gone by then – but they did not leave until at least late on Sunday, June 4.

Pillows were in rubbish left by travellers on Selsley Common

Unlike Minchinhampton and Rodborough Common, which are administered by the National Trust, Selsley Common Stroud District Council takes responsibility for the 97 acre unfenced grassland on the Cotswold Escarpment which overlooks the Severn Vale.

There were no cattle on the common when the travellers arrived, however one farmer has put his animals out since then.

Read More

A spokesman for Stroud District Council said: “Whilst the illegal encampment at the start of June did cause disruption to local people and clean-up costs, we believe that it was the first incident of its kind in possibly 30 years.

A gas bottle was part of rubbish left by travellers on Selsley Common

“Digging deeper ditches and increasing the size of the bunds sounds simple but it would be costly and complicated," said a district council spokesman.

“As parts of Selsley Common are sites of special scientific interest, we would need permission from Natural England and would need to consult on any changes.

“As this was a ‘one-off’ it would be a little premature to react and make the commons harder to access as this could also pose problems to legitimate users who enjoy our beautiful countryside. “Having said that, we will obviously keep the situation under review and make changes if encampments do become an issue on the common.”